We were at our lockers and Riley was staring at Allison who was doing her makeup. I was falling asleep against my locker.. I haven't been getting sleep lately.. And because of that, it's affecting my work.. a lot..
"Look at that ninth-grade woman!She's putting on makeup. We're going to be ninth-grade women someday!" Riley exclaimed making Maya look at her shocked.
"This thing goes to ninth grade?" Maya asked and I lazily opened my eyes
"no it goes up to the 12th grade" I corrected her and she looked like she was about to faint.
Riley points to Allison. "Why that?" She asked "Brings out your eyes" Maya answered
"Why would I wanna take out my eyes?" Riley asked and I just shook my head and closed my eyes, trying to get some sleep. Even if it was for 5 minutes
"She's not taking out her eyes." Maya told her
"And I think she is." Riley said
"It's an eyelash curler. It doesn't even hurt." I heard Allison say so I opened my eyes to see her holding out the eyelash curler. Riley takes the eyelash curler and examines it "I have eyelashes." She claims
"Watch this." Maya says while recording. Riley clamps the curler on her eyelashes "Ahhhhh!" She screams, giving me a headache.
"Riley! Stop!" I yelled out, getting annoyed. This isn't what I want to hear at 7 in the morning.
"Anybody else would stop." Maya says while placing her hand on my arm to calm me down.
"Ahhhhh!" Riley screams and Cory comes out "open it." Riley opens the eyelash curler "Thanks, Daddy." "Yeah, okay." He says walking away from all this.
Riley says the same thing and hands the curler to Addison. Farkle walks over
"Ladies." Farkle and in unison we say
"Farkle."
"School dance. I'm gonna put you three down for Dance Numbers one through all of them. We will alternate. You and me, me and you, and me and you. When you're not dancing with me, you may not dance with anyone else. So you may sit and wait until you dance with me again." He demands
"Yeah, none of this is happening." Maya says
"Well, may I have one dance with each of you?" He asked
"Sure." Riley says
"Ha! That's all I wanted. You just got played by Farkle." He said before walking away. Lucas and Liam walked over, greeting us
"Hey guys!" The boys said and Lucas walked over to me, giving me a kiss.
Riley raises her hand "Liam!"
"Hand." Maya says
Riley loudly says "Liam!"
"Grown-up voice." I said
Riley walks up to him "Liam, hello."
"Hey" Liam says back
"Hey, yeehaws. You going to Tick-Tock Shake Your Body Time, cause, you know, it's not a square dance, so, not gonna be a whole lot of do-si-doing." Maya says hoping for a reaction
"Well then, I'm sure we have no idea what to do and you can make fun of us." Liam said to her and she pointed at him, annoyed that she didn't get the reaction she wanted.
"You're not playing this right."
Lucas puts down her hand "Oh, well that's certainly not our intention. We'll try harder next time." He tells before hugging me to his chest.
"I will break you two" Maya says and Liam replied back with
"Well, if that's what makes you happy, then. We certainly can't wait for it," tips imaginary hat "ma'am."
Maya shudders in annoyance and turns away. I was falling asleep on Lucas and he noticed and whispered
"Precious have you been sleeping?" He asked me and I shook my head no
"Uh-uh" "why not?"
I really didn't want to talk about it because it's already slowing down my life and I didn't want to mess up my relationship with Lucas. Thank God, the bell rang. He rubs his thumb on my cheek "I'm your boyfriend, you can talk to me about anything. I won't judge you." He said me sincerely and I nodded "I know.." we went to class, ignoring the fact that Maya was dancing weirdly in the hallways.
▿ ▿ ▿
We were walking into class and Cory was calling his by our last names except got Riley and Farkle.
"Friar! Carter! Hart! Farkle! Walker! You.." Cory says
"Dad, I..." Riley starts off but Cory cuts her off, making the closed mouth signal with his hand. "Okay" she sighed and walked to her desk.
"Well, guys. I've got your test results on Darwin to give back to you, and uh, I'm pleased to see some of you have "evolved" since the last quiz." He says waiting for the students to laugh, but no one does.
"Ha!" "Thanks, Farkle." Cory says to him "Well, you were drowning, sir." he tells Cory. I had my head down because once again, haven't been getting sleep.
Cory passes the papers out to the students "Ms. Hart."Hands Maya's test to her "Mr. Friar." Hands Lucas' test to him "Nice work." "Thank you, sir."
"Mr. Farkle." Hands Farkle's test to him
"A number 700. Huzzah!" Takes out a noisemaker.
"Mr. Carter" Hands Liam's test to him "Great job"
"Ms.Walker.. let's talk after class.." Cory says handing me my test that had an "F" at the corner. I knew I was doing bad but sheesh..
"You." Hands Riley's test to her and Riley noticed our faces
"You okay?" She asked them both of us.
"He gave us an F." Maya said after looking at my test that I just gave to her. I didn't want to look at it anymore.
"That's nuts, you're a solid D student Maya. And Dee, you're a Solid A student." Riley says
"Mr. Friar, I took particular note of your position that evolution does not preclude the existence of... How did you put it?" Cory asked and Lucas reads
"A guiding hand that has your best interest at heart." I was about ready to dip out of this classroom.
Maya raises her hand "Yes, Ms. Hart." Cory answered "you failed Dee and I .." she said, shocking the class.They knew how well I did in this class. I was getting my stuff ready because I wasn't about to stay here.
"You failed us." Maya says
"Why don't we talk about this after class?" Cory tried to reason with her but Maya wasn't have it. I got my stuff ready and I could felt Lucas' eyes on me and he knew what I was about to do. I just hoped he didn't stop me. I just couldn't be here right now.
"What's there to talk about? You failed me." She stands up "You think I'm a failure." She takes the test paper
"There's nothing more for you to teach me." She tells him
"Oh, come on, both of you gotta say that?" Cory complained before looking at me "are you gonna say it too?"
Maya walked to the door and Cory calls out to her. And as he's looking at her, I quickly ran out of the back door, without him noticing. I went to my locker, grabbed my bag and headed to the music room. If I can't sleep , ima be making music to keep me productive.
~back in the classroom~
"What, you mean I lost you both? 2/3 of youse?" Maya turns around "Maya you do not walk out of here." Cory tells her but she walks out. Riley raises her hand "Go" he tells her and she leaves after Maya.
Everyone raises their hand but not because they want to leave but because Cory needed to know that Deja was gone.
"No!" Cory yells assuming that the class wanted to leave.
"Sir!" Lucas calls out "Deja is gone, she left when you were talking Maya.." Lucas told him "I think something is wrong with her.. she hasn't been sleeping lately.."
Cory looked at Lucas "Find her" He tells Lucas and Lucas nods, pulling Liam with him, knowing they had a sibling bond and they left.
▿ ▿ ▿
The Texan boys were looking up and down the school, knowing Deja wouldn't leave the school. They passed by the music room and heard singing, as they recognized the voice as Deja..
"Life is like a big merry-go-round
You're up and then down
Going in circles tryin' to get to where you are
Everybody's been cutting you out
But where are they now?
Sitting in the same old place
Just faces in the crowd
We all make mistakes
You might fall on your face
But you gotta get up!
I'd rather stand tall
Than live on my knees
'Cause I'm a conqueror
And I won't accept defeat
Try telling me no
One thing about me
Is I'm a conqueror
I am a conqueror
Ooh oh
Got a vision that no one else sees
Lot of dirty work, roll up your sleeves
Remember there's a war out there
So come prepared to fight!
You never know where the road leads ya
Not everyone's gonna believe ya
And even though they're wrong,
Don't prove 'em right
I'd rather stand tall
Than live on my knees (Can't live on my knees)
'Cause I'm a conqueror
And I won't accept defeat
Try telling me no
One thing about me
Is I'm a conqueror
I am a conqueror
Oh oh (Ooh ooh)
I am a conqueror
We all make mistakes
You might fall on your face
But you gotta get up!
We all make mistakes
You might fall on your face
Don't ever give up!
I'd rather stand tall
Than live on my knees
'Cause I'm a conqueror
And I won't accept defeat
Try telling me no
One thing about me
Is I am a conqueror
I am a conqueror
Oh oh
I am a conqueror, oh no
We all make mistakes
You might fall on your face
But I am a conqueror"
She finished they could hear her breathing heavily and then she started gasping her for air. They ran inside to see her on the ground. Lucas and Liam ran over. She was having a panic attack..
"Lucas! Kiss her, she'll hold her breath and calm down" Liam told him and he didn't hesitate to kiss her. Deja held her breath, relaxing and Lucas pulled away. "You okay baby?" He asked her, rubbing her cheeks and she nodded. "Thank you, the both of you.."
"How did you know she had to hold her breath?" Lucas asked and Liam looked away "I saw it on Teen Wolf.." he said making the couple laugh while he just pouting.
"Okay Precious now you're gonna tell us why you haven't been sleeping lately?" Lucas asked as the boys sat down on the floor with her. Deja, Lucas, and Liam already shared of their past stories to each other but Deja was still holding something back.
(TW!!!!!)
"My dad... is in jail.. He was abusive.. verbally and physically, it started when I was 5... My mom wouldn't believe me when I told her because her husband was "wonderful man". This went on until I was 9 years old, my mom had came home early one day and she heard my screams from my room and ran over. She saw my dad..beating me nearly to death.. She pushed him off me and punched him, knocking him out. She immediately called the cops and they arrested him. He told them he was planning on killing me that day.. and if my mom didn't come when she did, I would've died.. He was charged with First degree attempted murder and child abuse.. he got life in prison without parole.. my mom cried and apologized for not believing me. I've been having nightmares of that night so I haven't been sleeping.. My mom never told Cory or Topanga about what happened." Deja finished and it was silent. Lucas and Liam were raging and Deja knew their Texas sides were going to come out so she grabbed both of the hands.
"Hey.. I'm here... I'm alive.. I may have nightmares and panic attacks but I'm okay." Deja said trying to calm them down.
"How could you be so happy all the time? After everything you've been through..?" Liam asked her
"Because I have friends like you Li and an amazing boyfriend like Luke. You guys helped get through the harder days without even knowing it." She told him
(End of TW!!!)
"Where's your mom Deja?" Lucas just had to ask. And her answer made him even more angry "I don't know. After the whole bullying incident happened and she dropped me off at an apartment she had in New York and had the Matthews watch over me, I haven't seen her since."
"So you've been living by yourself for almost two years now?" Liam asked with his hand clenched into a fist.
"Yeah but it's not like Im not use to it. I've always been left alone in the house by myself." She told him
"Stay with me" Liam instantly said
"What?" She asked shocked
"Stay with me and my dad. We have an extra room and you know my dad loves you after meeting you the other day. Please.. you're like my sister and I don't like the thought of you being alone.." he said and it warmed Deja's heart.
"I agree with Liam, I think it would be better for you to live with him. You'll be safer and he can help when I'm not able to be there for you." Lucas added
"What about your dad? I don't want to be a burden to you guys.." Deja said biting her lip. She would love to live with Liam but she didn't want to invaded their space. She didn't notice that Liam was texting someone.
"There, he said yes and he's getting your room ready.. he's fine with it. Now please will you just agree?" Liam asked with his puppy dog eyes and Deja smiled before tackling the boys into a hug, making them fall back laughing.
"Thank you Liam.. really appreciate this.." Deja said tearing up and the boys hugged her back..
"No need to thank me, like I said you're my sister and you isn't have to be alone anymore in a crowd.. we'll be here for you Dee.. Forever.."
He said and they just sat there hugging each other.. After a few minutes, they went back to class when Cory sighed in relief and hugged Deja
"Are you okay Deja? I'm sorry I don't noticed you were going through something.." Cory rambled and she covered his mouth, giggling.
"Cornelius I'm fine but I was wondering if I could retake the test.. I think I'm in a better mindset now" she asked removing her hand from his face and he smiled nodding, handing her the test
"How much time you need Ms. Walker?" Cory asked and she smirked
" 10 minutes max." She said walking out to the hallway with the test and a pencil.
"Do you think she'll actually finish it in only 10 minutes?" Yogi asked from the back of the room.
"Deja is like the female version of me.." Farkle said proud of his best friend/ "future" wife
"she'll finish it with some time left.." He finished and about 6 minutes passed by and Deja walked in making the class jaws drop. She handed the test to Cory who chuckled before grading it. The class watched in silence as Cory was going through the test and wrote a grade at the top of the test. He handed it to Deja who didn't look at it yet and faced it to the class. The class' eyes widen as they saw an fat "A+" at the corner of the paper.
"How the hell.." was all Liam said as Lucas smiled proudly at her. Deja turned it and smiled at her grade.
"Deja anything time you're going through something, don't be silent about it.. I'm here to help.." Cory told her and she smiled "okay.. I'll come to you next time.." her smile slightly faltered once she realized Riley or Maya hadn't come to see if she was okay or not.
▿ ▿ ▿
Lucas, Liam, Liam's father David and I just grabbed my stuff from my mom's apartment and brought it to the Carter house hold. David already decorated it for me.
I smiled at David before giving him a hug
"Thank you so much David.." I told him and he waved me off
"No need to thank you Deja, I'm just glad I'm not gonna be the only one dealing with Liam now" he said making me laugh at Liam's offended face. I felt my phone buzzing and Topanga was calling me for the last hour.
"I have to go to the Matthews' apartment. Topanga is calling me. We're still going to the dance right?"
I asked and I got nods as responses. I nodded back, giving them a kiss on the cheek and went to Riley's apartment. And when I got there, Cory, Topanga, Riley and Maya were sitting at the table, waiting for me.
"Uh hey guys. Sorry Topanga I didn't see your calls. I was busy.." I said apologetically and she just smiled
"It's okay Deja, we just want to talk to you.. about today.." She said and I looked at her confused.
"What about today? I retook the test and passed." I told her and then looked over at Maya and Riley who wouldn't look at me. The hell is going on? She shared a look with Cory who started talking
"Deja you know we care about you right?.." he asked and I started getting defensive.
"Cory cut the crap, what's going on?" I know I shouldn't have spoke to him like that but they're dodging the question and I'm getting annoyed.
"Someone saw you having a panic attack in the music room where Lucas and Liam helped you. They ran to me after class and told me about it." He said
"They didn't hear the conversation that happened after that?" I asked confusing them but my business is my business. And only the people I want to know should know.. I don't want them knowing yet... especially Riley and Maya.
"Um no the person didn't heard anything but should it matter?" Cory asked and I immediately answered
"Yes they shouldn't been eavesdropping on peoples' conversations. And yea, I did have one today.. wouldn't be the first time. " I told him and they looked at me hurt..
"Why didn't you tell us that you went through this.?" Maya asked quietly and I was looking around really confused because I didn't think I had to tell them this. They didn't care enough to notice that I wasn't okay or to see if I was okay. But the second they're not okay, I'm the first one there.
"Um I didn't think I had to.. it's my business after all.." I said with a straight face
"But Deja we care about you and want to know if you're okay.. I mean what was it that even triggered it?" Topanga asked
"Just some stuff from my past.." I answered vaguely and they looked at me suspiciously..
"Are you going to tell us what these "stuff" are?" Riley asked this time and I rolled my eyes. What is this 20 questions?
"Why am I being interrogated?" I questioned
"We're not trying to interrogate you Deja-" I cut off Topanga
"Yes you are! What is this about? Do you guys not trust me or something??!" I yelled out shocking them.
" How could you even say that Dee..? You're our best friend and we love you.. we want to make sure you're okay.." Riley said walking over to me since I was by the door still.. mmh sure. I internally rolled my eyes.
"I'm fine.. but you guys should understand if I don't tell you guys something, it's because I don't want you guys to see me differently. I'll admit, I went through a lot in my life starting at just 5 years old to the age of 13.. I'm almost 14..and of course those things are going keep a toll on me. My past isn't pretty.. a lot has happened and I'm just not ready to tell you guys yet. You guys will be mad.. you will shed a few tears, you will feel angry when you learn the truth but for right now, please wait.." I said to them and they were quiet, then Riley hugged me
"Okay.. we'll wait.." She says stilling hugging me. I hugged her back saying "Thank you.." I pulled away to be tackled into another hug by Maya.
" I love you.. you know what right?" She told me and I nodded "I do.." "okay so don't think I'll ever see as anything but my best friend/sister.." she says back and I squeezed her tightly "okay.."
we pulled away and I looked at Cory and Topanga "you guys want one too?" I asked smiling as they ran over and hugged me.
"I love you guys.. so much. You're my family.. my mom and dad.. I'll come to you when I need you.." I told them and they nodded, still hugging me.
I pulled away "you're going to the dance right?" I asked and a smile flew on Riley's face as she said " hello Liam.." making Maya and I laugh.
"Wanna get ready together?" I asked and I was instantly pulled to Riley's room. I think I might regret this..
▿ ▿ ▿
I don't know when, where or how Riley got my dress but she had in her room. We got dressed and Cory almost didn't let us go but he had forgot that he was a chaperone. So we finally got to the school and I texted the boys that I were going to meet them there. We walked in and I went over to the boys.
"Hey boys, looking good" I said making them look over at me. Liam hugged me
" looking beautiful tonight" He told me and I kissed his cheek in a sisterly way.
"Thank you Li" I said before looking at Lucas who was just staring at me. I waved my hand in front of his face while Liam was just snickered before Maya pulled him away to dance with Riley.
"You there Luke..?" I asked and he must have snapped out of it. He wrapped his arms around my waist
"You look gorgeous Precious.." he whispered in my ear, making me shiver a little. He pulled away with a smirk, noticing my shivering. I smacked his chest softly while he laughed. He leaned down a little and kissed me, I sighed in content against his lips.
"You look handsome babe.. for a Cowboy.." I added at the end in a teasing voice make him pout.
"That's not nice baby.." "I'm kidding you big baby..." I told him with my arms around his neck. "Your baby right?" He asked with a grin and I shook my head at his cheesiness
"You're so cheesy.. you're lucky I love it.." he chuckled before pecking my lips a few times.
"Let's dance Luke" I pulled him to the middle and we swayed to the music.
"You're a really good dancer, Liam" Riley said, swaying with him
"Thanks, so are you." Liam said back
"Look, everyone's copying us." Riley said as she looks around, and everyone is dancing the same as them. Farkle and Maya pass Riley and Liam again "The hat's just for me, isn't it? You actually put thought into our little game, don't you?" Maya asked
"I actually do." Liam said and puts a rose in her mouth. She shudders and
Farkle puts the rose in his mouth and shudders back. Music ends, and everybody claps.
"Well, guys, it looks like the night is winding down. We hope you all enjoyed the dance. But before we go, I notice some fathers have arrived to pick up their daughters. I wonder if we might have one last dance. A father-daughter dance." Cory says as soft music plays, then Cory approaches Riley, but she steps out of the way so he's facing Maya
"May I please have this dance?" He asked Maya takes his hand, and they step to the center of the floor. After a bit, Cory holds out his other hand to Riley, and she takes it. Riley puts her hand out to me and I grabbed it and Maya grabbed my other hand.
"Looks like maybe we have a new tradition." Riley says
"That's okay. Traditions are supposed to evolve. Just like daughters. Sometimes daughters just need... What was that again, Mr. Friar?"
He asked turning to Lucas
"A guiding hand that has your best interest at heart." Lucas says as he winks at me. I just rolled my eyes playfully.
"There's still a whole lot I need you to teach me, dad." Riley says
"Thank you, Riley." Cory says back
"There's still a whole lot I need you to teach me, too." Maya says and Cory looks at me
"I can have Topanga teach me stuff" I said making the girls laugh and Cory pouted. "Fine fine I have a lot I would like for you to teach me" he smiled at me.
"Hey, he's my father." Riley says
"Whatever you say." Maya and I say in unison
"You do know that you're my father, right?" Riley asked Cory
"Yeah, I'm your father. Thank you, Riley."
"How's that for makeup?" She asked
"Perfect." He says and continues dancing with the three of us.
———————————————————
Hey guys, I didn't update last week because I had a lot going buttt I didn't forget y'all this week. I hope you enjoyed and sorry for any misspelling and errors. Until next time :)
Love,
Kaila